The Jurassic League

The Jurassic League #1-6

by Daniel Warren Johnson (Writer), Juan Gedeon (Writer/Illustrator), Rafa Garres (Illustrator)

Bear witness to a brand-new--yet older than time--adventure and experience the Justice League as you have never seen them before, as dinosaurs operating as The Jurassic League!

You know the story: an infant escapes a far-off planet before it explodes and is deposited on Earth to be raised by human parents. A goddess from a lost city defends truth. A Tyrannosaurus rex dons the visage of a bat to strike fear into evildoers' hearts. This heroic trinity, alongside a league of other super-powered dinosaurs, join forces to save a prehistoric Earth from the sinister machinations of Darkseid.
Wait...what? Okay, maybe you don't know the story. So join us and bear witness to a brand-new--yet older than time--adventure and experience the Justice League as you have never seen them before!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Batman, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

152 pages, Hardcover

Published April 18, 2023

About the author

Daniel Warren Johnson is a Chicago-based comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. He's worked on titles for most major publishers, including Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image. His current series with Skybound/Image Comics is EXTREMITY, a sci-fi/fantasy title he is writing and drawing, and continues to update his webcomic Space-Mullet in his spare time.

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been given low ratings by many other reviewers, but I found this to be an enjoyable read. It just goes to show you that different people have different tastes, so sometimes it is good to give low rated books a chance.

The main reason I liked this is that I'm a fan of Daniel Warren Johnson's art. It's packed with energy and action. Also, I found the DC heroes as dinosaur people goofy in a fun and entertaining way.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dinosaur Justice League takes on Dinosaur Darkseid in the distant past. Cool art, although that fill-in issue was a little rough. Fun stuff.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Jurassic League collects issues 1-6 of the DC Comics series written by Juan Gedeon and Daniel Warren Johnson with art by Juan Gedeon, Rafa Garres, and John Mikel.

Batsaur, Supersaur, Wonderdon, Green Torch, Flashraptor, and Aquanyx join forces as the Jurassic League to battle evil dinosaurs and the Dark Embryo.

Ever wonder what it would be like if a ten year old wrote the Justice League but imagined that all the predominant characters were dinosaurs instead? Well wonder no more! The book is fun for all of two issues and then becomes extremely tedious and wordy. Seriously, they are dinosaurs - I don’t need them to explain every action like it is a Silver Age book. The art starts off pretty good and then you can tell there was a time crunch as it progressively goes down hill and even has some fill-in issues (which are awful). Could be a fun book for kids to get into comics, but there isn’t much flavor here to make it a lasting impact.

[Brian Garthoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jurassic League is nowhere near as robust as something written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson. Gedeon tries to imitate the DWJ art style but the execution gets particularly clumsy early on and never quite sticks it. The story as a whole is very basic, so come for the dinosaurs and enjoy what there is but for the real DWJ experience you’ll have to look elsewhere.

[Ignacio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tanto pedir que DWJ se buscara un guionista para hacer sus tebeos que acabo llegando por error a uno que no ilustra él y sí guioniza. La historia del origen de una JLA formada por dinosaurios que sería una chorrada mayúscula si no fuera por lo resultón del dibujo entre el cartoon y las tira de animales divertidos de Juan Gedeón. A ratos puede que un poco esquemático y escasamente definido, pero hace funcionar un argumento simplón cuya base es el boceto de guión de la peli de la JLA. Uno de los seis números del tomo lo dibuja Rafa Garrés, al que hacía 20 años que no leía. Le da al relato un cariz mucho más sucio, casi underground. Ay del joven al que le hayan regalado este tomo pensando en que la combinación de dinosaurios y superhéroes le puede gustar XD

Existe un universo paralelo en el cual DWJ ha dibujado su historia y el tebeo gana dos estrellas más, pero desafortunadamente a nuestra realidad sólo han llegado las cubiertas que se incluyen en el tomo.

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a Daniel Warren Johnson fan overall, but this is not his best work. The story is just not as interesting as I wanted it to be. Really feels like a missed opportunity of a concept. Also, it’s too violent for a concept that sounds like a kids comic.

The art is underwhelming as well.

[Sarospice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted this to be fun but it's a directionless mess, and the art is third grade Daniel Warren Johnson traces.... Unnecessary.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dinos look cool, Wonderdon in particular, at least as far as anthropomorphic dinos can be. Haha, the names alone are fantastic. Somewhere in the middle, I think during the third chapter, the art really gets…grotesque and bumpy…just plain bleh (for me). Fortunately, it picks back up in quality by returning to the opening style. Now that I sit here dinos look ‘cool’ by themselves, the artist just did a great job of making em` stay cool, y‘know?

It’s whacky fun. The people who are rating this lowly are taking the story wayyy too seriously. It’s comical from a certain perspective. I can imagine this being a dream from a character in a show and this is a one-off. Not too far from Flash dreaming of everyone becoming a Gorilla…and y’know the eventuality. Or even the entire League becoming children. So, even crazier things have happened xD

I’m glad this is out there. And it’s funny because I scoffed after seeing this and completely left it alone. Giving it a chance I found it wasn’t THAT bad. It’s bad, but somehow it eeks out a measure of entertainment. I didn’t totally unenjoy it. Overall it’s simply a nice break from a Justice League line of comic that offers nothing new and stars the same characters, or kill me now it goes into the League’s origin AGAIN.

I won’t say pleasantly surprised. Definitely surprised though.

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Justice League as Dinosaurs.

That's all it took to sell me on this one!

What a fantastic idea. I wish there was more and I really hope they consider pursuing this with further installments.

This volume is essentially an intro to the Big Three (Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman) in their dino forms, with glorious puns and fantastically Jurassic depictions. Their stories are simplified in favour of pushing the action forward, so we get a neat little story of dino carnage that would be perfect for kids if it were perhaps a smidge less violent and bloody (Personally, I think kids today would be fine with this but I'm not a parent so please don't trust my word).

It's fun seeing our heroes in these new forms, but it's a very basic graphic novel. The artwork around chapter 3/4 gets kinda horrendous and messy, which makes it hard to follow and less enjoyable, though the quality seems to pick back up in the last few issues.

I wasn't expecting literary genius and I got exactly what I wanted: DC characters as dinosaurs. So I'm not mad in the slightest though this would have been epic if they'd gone above and beyond with the idea.

I'd happily sign up for more, but as it is this was a fun read. Don't expect anything special, but do expect superhero dinosaurs.

[Patrick Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️-I just now finished Jurassic League by Juan Gedeon& Daniel Warren Johnson. Dinosaurs? Super heroes? Mix them up and this is what you get ! This is a nice little fun popcorn read I enjoyed it and especially loved Batsaur, as a lifelong Batman fan what can you expect?! a lot of the old origin stories, but told in this story but as dinosaurs! I admittedly bought this as Daniel Warren Johnson has become my new favorite Artist/author in comics this year. No shade to.Juan Gedeon, but you can tell when he’s writing and when DWJ is writing! If DWJ wrote/drew whole comic I am sure I would have loved it more but I would still give it 3/5 stars. Very fast read with excellent art and I absolutely love seeing dinosaurs, just jacked and in superhero costumes. I’d recommend the story just for the art alone very fun breezy read. Next comic read as my DWJ marathon continues will be Do A Powerbomb by Daniel Warren Johnson.

[Josh Herrema · Rating 5 out of 5]

People are complaining how it was just a Justice League origin story, but with dinosaurs. And like yeah? I don't what else was expected? Just a silly fun time with some fun designs

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

A never-before-seen adventure leads to the birth and rise of The Jurassic League as sentient dinosaurs resembling the iconic DC superheroes work together to save a prehistoric Earth from the evil brewing deep in a cavern that could only be a force as powerful as Darkseid himself. Violent yet somehow still conceptually childish, writer Juan Gedeon and Daniel Warren Johnson, the latter whose artwork from Wonder Woman: Dead Earth is poorly reproduced here by a non-DC-Trinity trio of artists, join forces to deliver a weak yet sillily entertaining stand-alone take on the Justice League.

Batsaur/Batwalker, a sentient tyrannosaurus rex, is out in the wild seeking the insane Jokerzard who killed his parents when he was only a baby and saves a little human kid after the sadistic Dilophosaurus orphans him only to end up having him tag along in his quest for revenge. Meanwhile, Supersaur, a superpowered brachiosaurus from another planet, helps humans build their community safe from other evil predators. The triceratops Wonderdon, after witnessing visions of an evil growing on the mainland, decides to leave the island of Trimyscira to help in the upcoming war. However, this evil, set out to grow in power and without a care in the world of the casualties it will create along the way, cannot be stopped by any single dinosaur. That is unless some of the strongest ones out there join together in a united cause for good to triumph over evil.

This was so weird. It reads like it was aimed at a younger audience and I could feel it in the writing, it somehow reached deep down and tugged at my twelve-year-old self, making him realize how cool and epic all this nonsense is. But then there’s this artwork and all the action, full of violence and mayhem that clearly seem to indicate that the creative team behind this was aspiring toward absolute chaos generally suitable for adults. By the end of this wild ride, you just couldn’t tell. But hey, I still found myself face-palming and laughing my way through this as they quickly reintroduced the core Justice League members in a prehistoric setting as all these different dinosaurs. Always with an internal logic though because Superman could only be a brachiosaurus because of how big and kind they are, right? But the execution was rough, there’s nothing creative in the origin story of these characters as they’re copy-pasted off what we might have heard before about the heroes that form the Justice League. It all also ends so abruptly, barely giving these fellow dinosaurs the chance to interact, and build a relationship, before their newly-found chemistry could help them kick evil between the legs. Unfortunately, the artwork is also rough. It’s odd enough that Daniel Warren Johnson doesn’t do any drawing here when the whole artistic team has tried to do something along the lines of his signature style. Instead, we get this heavy-ink, sometimes decent, sometimes off, chaotically colourful artwork that often just looks like it was done quickly on the corner of a table.

The Jurassic League is a poorly-executed and unoriginal concept that might seem fun if not silly as the Justice League takes on Darkseid with a prehistoric and carnivorous-twist.

[OMNIBUS GOD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Justice League day! Here’s a fun Justice League story..? Yea, see the formation of some of DC’s greatest heroes like, Supersaur? And uh Batsaur? Wonderdon, Flashraptor, Aquanyx, and Green Torch? Together they team up to stop the evil embryo that emerges as Darkyloseid, and become the Justice Le.. wait. NO! They become the JURASSIC LEAGUE!! Yes, as you could already tell this is Daniel Warren Johnson and Juan Gedeon’s silly and fun take on an alternate Justice League. The Jurassic League shows us dino alternate versions of the famed DC super team and their battle against their greatest foes, who all work together to bring the hatching of Darkyloseid! The biggest threat to this (non accurate) prehistoric world. That’s why all these dino heroes must band together and stop him from becoming Earth’s ruler!

Both Daniel and Juan do the writing on this project and I got to say, when I first heard about this project I just kinda laughed and brushed it off. As time went on however, I noticed the series had wrapped up and I figured it’s DWJ so why not check it out. The premise is so ridiculous only someone like Johnson could make it work. I’ve never heard of Juan Gedeon but teamed up with Johnson I think they make a hilarious and fun mini-series. The story doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s still really fun, and even has some moments that feel just like a normal Justice League story. It’s action packed from start to finish, and has a pretty wicked ending alluding that there’s more to come, and I’m all up for it.

Art work is done by Gedeon, and even though I was hoping it was Daniel Warren Johnson, I’m not let down by Gedeon’s work. It’s very similar to Johnson’s style, however it’s still very much its own and super fun. It’s a great pairing for the action pace of the book, and partnered with Mike Spicer’s suburb colors, the book was very appealing to look at. I also loved the character designs Gedeon (and I'm assuming Johnson too) came up with. It’s obviously just drawing the Justice League members as dinos, but I feel like Gedeon more than understood the assignment, and gave us some badass designs. They’re recognizable, but still super creative, both for the heroes and villains.

Overall; this was a blast of a read and the artwork was a pleasant surprise even though I was expecting Johnson. Comics like these are so needed sometimes when reading heavy material so often. It’s also just fun and creative to see what other silly ideas these creators can come up with!

[James De Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent read. It's basically an adaptation of the formation of the Justice League, but it uses dinosaurs instead of people.


The premise was compelling and the initial art I remember seeing certainly caught my attention. I've read some previous work from Daniel Johnson (e.g., WW: Dead Earth, Murder Falcon), so I'm familiar with his style of writing, but this is the first time I've read something he hasn't drawn....and I have to say, I think his art is what makes his writing compelling. It's very much complementary and elevates the overall quality of the work.

His art can be a bit off-putting - initially. But once it grows on you, it becomes his ace on the sleeve. This book did not have that. Juan Gedeon handled the art for 5/6 issues and did a really great job, but the art was lacking that spark of manic frenzy movements that I expected when I saw Daniel Johnson's name attached to the project.

Speaking of which... the art of issue 3 is rough. Rafael Garres takes over for that issue and the result is far less than ideal. It's a confusing mess, which left me wondering which side is up?, who's hitting who?, why isn't the art as crisp as it was before?

Overall, I think this gets an 'okay' from me. It's a decent book with fairly decent art (except for issue 3 - - that was just....ugh). I give this one a 6/10 from both the art and the story. I wish the resolution to the story had taken more of a joint effort...

[Nerdmaling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Det är inte särskilt ovanligt med alternativa versionen av superhjältar oavsett om det är andra världar eller nystarter. Som läsare vill man gärna se hur de olika hjältarna får nya funktioner i det nya sammanhanget. Man hoppas på att tolkningen av hjältarnas funktion ska vara någorlunda intakt eller i alla fall genomtänkt.

Sen är det lite knepigt att variera samma historia om och om igen.

Jag hade inte så stora förväntningar på den här serien som är en klassisk återberättelse av hur Justice League formades. Det är en version som utspelar sig i en sorts dinsaurievärld och den tar sig såklart inte på så stort allvar. Många av skämten handlar om att sätta -saurie bakom superhjältenamn.

Det är såklart massa action när dinosarieversionerna av Batman och Superman fightas.

Lite förvånade får den en fyra. En stark fyra dessutom.

Den har egentligen alla fördelar av en så här historia (att man får vänta/gissa på sina favorit karaktärer). Det är en riktigt bra och intressant tolkning som dessutom balanserar humor och drama på ett bra sätt.

Den är actionfyllda på bästa sätt (att kritisera en superhjälte-dinosaurie serie för att vara för actionfylld skulle vara samma sak som att kritisera en komedi för att inte vara seriös).

Teckningarna är outstanding! Faktiskt sjukt imponerad.

Det negativa, och som gör att serien inte får full pott, är att den inte är lika kreativ när det gäller grundhistorien utan det är egentligen samma visa som vi hört sen stenåldern (pun intended).

Man kan säga att man får lite vad man kan förvänta sig fast den levererar så pass mycket att den ändå särskiljer sig.

På biblioteket är den värd att låna vara för att njuta av actionscenerna om inget annat lockar.

[Devin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was.. fine I guess?

Take the justice league and make them dinosaurs sounds like a fun premise. It definitely is pretty fun! The art fits the story great. It’s also an incredibly fast read. I finished it in about an hour.

The plot tho feels very empty. This book feels like they came up with the dinosaur idea and never really got past that point before starting it.

It feels very run of the mill meh story in here which is disappointing. They could have done so many new things, but instead they just rinse and repeat a story that’s been done a million times.

Overall it’s worth reading because it’s a fun idea and short. I don’t think I’ll ever have the urge to reread this one tho

[Lesebiene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Der Comic ist schon irgendwie großartig - auf seine ganz eigene Weise. Ich habe größten Trash erwartet, aber ich mochte den Comic tatsächlich sehr. 😄 Natürlich ist es absurd und hilarious, aber wenn man sich darauf einlassen kann, hat man viel Spaß mit der Geschichte.
P.s.: Ich möchte jetzt immer das Wort.„Guano“ verwenden, wenn ich fluche.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the simplicity of the story and the designs, some of the dinosaurs really felt like their regular counterparts (Superman/Supersaur). The story felt like a classic or old school comic, lot of silly fun.

I hated the names that they used too often, I guess I never realized how often other characters call Batman, Batman but this got annoying quick. It felt like such a random collection, like a toy-line tie-in. I would love to know how and WHY this story came together.

[Aidan]

First two issues are hilarious, but then surprisingly the middle issues are bogged down by exposition. It seems ridiculous that the writers of a a book about wrestling dinosaurs would use too many words, but here we are.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quiero leer más cómics así de entretenidos

[Michael Vetter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun version of the Justice League where all the characters are dinosaurs that have the same superpowers that we know and expect from the classic superheroes.

[Odo · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.25/10

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an Elseworlds story that has the Earth still teeming with dinosaurs. Your favorite superheroes (and villains) are all dinosaur based. You've seen them do it with other animals, but who doesn't love a dinosaur?

I'm sure this will be a great read for younger kids still hooked on dinosaurs. For me, this just didn't get to that 'must read' level.

[Decimo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was awesome lol I had so much fun. Love Batsaur and his little human. Batman always adopts an orphan regardless of whether or not he's a dinosaur. Supersuar and his human dad are also cute af. Him and his beasts, carrying them with his hands, feet, and tail.

The overall plot is ok. The arts are great except for issue 3.

[Callan Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 Dino hero’s go rawr

[Kelsey Harrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean c’mon. Has anything ever written been more perfect for me?!?! My two personality traits: dinosaurs and DC together?? Silly and fun and delightful!

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Daniel Warren Johnson was only responsible for co-scripting this. This does not count as his first dud. But this is a dud. The concept I guess is okay? We're in the Jurassic age. There's some humans and dinosaurs. Humans speak their own language. We see the origins of the Jurassic (Justic) League and the classic villains like Joker are all here. Batman decides to try to save humans, who really are just food after all.

All the characters have goofy dino-names most of which aren't especially clever.

The art by Gedeon seems to be trying to match Johnson's frenetic energy but lacks the clarity.

It just feels like a pointless retelling of the Justice League... but they're dinosaurs (which doesn't really add much interest past the cool covers).

[Matt Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bangers and Mash: Jurassic League

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was only one suplex this entire collection and it was a variant cover.

Ridiculous and not as fun as I thought DWJ drawing the Justice League as dinosaurs would be.

[Akshay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super Jurassic sized bombastic, fantastic action.

This one is not exactly a complicated one, either in concept or execution - it is quite simply, the familiar top superhero team of the DC Comics' universe being re-imagined as dinosaurs, nothing more.

That said, it is a testament to the skill of the team behind it that for all six issues/chapters of this story, I was totally engaged and enjoyed myself. I do give kudos to the writing team of Juan Gedeon and legend-in-the-making Daniel Warren Johnson, as they take what is essentially a simple alternate reality/elseworlds style story (with dinosaurs!) and a limited amount of space to tell a fun story that is balanced well - something I struggle with in a lot of comics and movies/TV in particular these days. Given the short span of just six short chapters. It is no easy task to introduce the dino-equivalent of the six different superheros who make up our league, give them some semblance of character, introduce a similar slew of villains, do a little world building and also have a hell of a lot of explosive action - yet somehow this team manages to achieve that goal!

In no small part, the success of this effort comes down I think to Johnson being known for his comics balancing a lot of action with solid story-telling + Gedeon pulling double-duty probably helped in the process of story-boarding the whole thing out more effectively. Over and above that, Rafa Garres and Jon Mikel alongside Mike Spicer really seem to work well with the duo leading this effort to make for one hell of a slam-bang of a series. At times it feels like there is very little time to breathe from one page-rattling fight to another and the action shots look and feel fantastic across the board - there is something in it all that frankly struck me as a bit of Johnsons fairly energetic style with shades of Jack Kirby in the angles and shots and even some of the poses. All in all, the art is a gritty, energetic and quite consistent look and feel that was a big highlight for me as it felt very complementary to the rough and prehistoric story I was reading.

Narratively the content is limited and does the smart thing by not trying to over-explain anything or even delve too much into detailing the character backstories - opting instead to give us glimpses and small info-drops to fill in enough blanks and all the while, keeping the accelerator firmly pressed on the pacing all the way through. This is fundamentally an intense action-romp of a book and to expect it to be too much more would be unwise. The team respects the material and handles it well in my humble opinion and the result is an eminently enjoyable experience that I would recommend to you if my review (or even just the description of the book) pique your interest.